Full frame lenses can be quite expensive. For portrait photographers, there are some lovely options out there, but with third-party lenses, they also come at a budget price. If you are someone who is looking to add a new portrait lens to their gear list, then here are two options that can be of help. Have a look.
Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG HSM Art
What makes it great? The Sigma lens is designed with 13 lens elements in 8 groups, has 9 aperture blades, and measures 3.4 x 3.9 in. It has a large focusing ring, looks a lot like the 35mm f1.4, and it offers nice quality. Overall, the lens has wonderful autofocusing, which is accurate and speedy. The lens is a bit slow in low light, but event and wedding photographers will not have much of an issue. With manual focus, you can rely on zone focusing.
Why is it unique? The 50mm f1.4 delivers the most beautiful images, and can put many first-party lenses to shame. The micro-contrast is nice and also helps to add sharpness to the photos. The colors are quite beautiful, and one can experiment with color profiles to work it out. If you are a DSLR user, the lens can be of help on any occasion. The bokeh is great, and it can appear a lot like Leica.
Sigma’s 50mm f1.4 is super sharp. We find it to be incredibly sharp when shot wide open and that is manages to reach its critical sharpness at f8. At f2 though, you’ll have the absolute best balance of bokeh quality and sharpness. Additionally, the lens is super sharp at f2. In fact, we think that most folks will want to shoot at this aperture with the lens all day.
Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
What makes it great? The 105mm is a full frame lens that offers 17 elements in 12 groups with a 39.4-inch close focusing distance. The lens is large, the front element is huge, and has a smooth exterior texture. It has a nice tripod collar, is called Bokeh Master, and has a dust and splash proof. On eBay, the lens will be available at $900. The autofocus is fast, even when used with a DSLR. Shooting in extremely low light situations, or when shooting directly into a light source, is only when the lens tends to hunt a bit more.
Why is it unique? The image quality is worth $900. The bokeh, as seen below, is lovely. The colors are also nice, a bit muted, and offer vividness with some tonalities. You also get lens sharpness, and with a flash, you get more sharpness. The lens is pretty great if you are shooting stage portraits. You can go as sharp as you want and the closer you get to the person, the bigger the bokeh gets.
Images produced by this lens are razor sharp as long as you’re able to nail focus, with beautiful fall off transitions and truly gorgeous bokeh. The Sigma 105mm f1.4 DG HSM will make melt the background away as long as you’ve got enough separation between your subject and whatever else is going on behind them.
